View full sizeEleven cars are parked outside this West Birch Drive home in Bangor Township

BANGOR TOWNSHIP, MI —Homeowners like Arnold Tennant could
keep innumerable cars on their properties if they were properly stored in enclosed buildings such as pole barns, according to a drafted
ordinance amendment.

Board members reviewed the drafted language Thursday, May 16, agreeing that the township's attorney must research its validity.

If the attorney approves the proposed residential parking amendment, the legislation would go before planning commissioners. A final Board vote could happen within 60 days afterward.

The proposed rule would enforce a 3-car limit for every licensed driver
living within a single-family household.

The proposed rule is in response to residents complaining
about Tennant, a 75-year-old West Birch Drive resident, who has 11 vehicles
parked outside his front door.

Diane Studders, who lives on East Birch Drive, emphasized
that years have gone by without any action.

"We've been to more than one meeting here," she said. "They
always put it off."

Board member Dick Bishop favors change.

Residential parking "needs to be controlled," he said. "In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to control it. But we don't live in a perfect world."

The draft amendment under review reads as follows:

Off-street parking spaces in single-family residential
districts shall consist of a parking strip, driveway, garage, or combination
thereof and shall be located on the premises they are intended to serve. No parking shall be permitted on a regular basis on lawns or
other unpaved areas on residential lots, with the exception of Township
approved gravel parking areas. All residential off-street parking shall be located on the
same lot as the principal use(s) to be served. Single-family residential districts shall be limited to
three (3) vehicles per licensed driver permanently living at the residence. Additional vehicles would be allowed if they were stored
within approved enclosed accessory building.